Pitkern
The 'Pitkern Ailens '(PIT-kern AI-lens), officially 'the Commonwealth ' 'of Pitkern Ailens '''are a group of four volcanic atolls in the southern Pacific being the last British-controlled islands in the Pacific. The four islands: Pitkern, Hederson, Ducie and Oeno - are spread over several hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 47 square kilometers (18 sq mi). Only Pitcairn, the second largest island measuring about 3.6 kilometers (2.2 mi) from east to west, is inhabited. The population consists of the descendants of HMS Bounty mutineers and Tahitians (or Polynesians) who accompanied them, which have been retold in many books and movies, like the Mutiny Aboard The HMS Bounty. History is witnessed by the surnames. With only 82 people, there are only 5 family names, four of which are from mutineers. Pitkern is the smallest country (by population) in the world. It is an observer of the United Nations and is part of The Small Island Developing States History The earliest known settlers of the Pitcairn Islands were Polynesians who appear to have lived on Pitcairn and Henderson Islands, as well as nearby Mangareva Island, claimed by the French, 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the northwest, for several centuries. They traded goods and formed social ties between the three islands despite the long canoe voyages between them, helping the small populations on each island survive despite having very limited resources, especially since of the low wood an food. Eventually important natural resources were used up, inter-island trade broke down and a period of civil war began on Mangareva, causing the small human populations on Henderson and Pitcairn to be cut off and eventually go extinct. Although archaeologists believe that Polynesians were living on Pitcairn as late as the 15th century, the islands were uninhabited when they were discovered by Europeans.7 Ducie and Henderson Islands were discovered by Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, in the same route as Magellan, sailing for the Spanish Crown, who arrived on 26 January 1606. He named them La Encarnación ("The Incarnation") and San Juan Bautista ("Saint John the Baptist"), respectively. However, some sources express doubt about exactly which of the islands were visited and named by Queirós, suggesting that Queirós' La Encarnación may actually have been Henderson Island, and San Juan Bautista may have been Pitcairn Island. It is also suggested that earlier explorers found it like Magellan and later Sir Francis Drake, although ignoring them. Pitcairn Island was sighted on 3 July 1767 by the crew of the British sloop HMS ''Swallow, commanded by Captain Philip Carteret. The island was named after sailor Robert Pitcairn, a fifteen-year-old crew member who was the first to sight the island. Robert Pitcairn was a son of British Marine Major John Pitcairn, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution. He joined the navy to continue the legacy. Capt. Carteret, who sailed without the newly invented accurate marine chronometer, charted the island at 25° 2' south and 133° 21' west of Greenwich. Although the latitude was reasonably accurate, the longitude was incorrect by about 3°. This made Pitcairn difficult to find, as highlighted by the failure of Captain James Cook to locate the island in July 1773 en route to present-day Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Habitation In 1790, The mutineer group consisting of Fletcher Christian and eight other mutineers from the Bounty. These were Ned Young, John Adams, Matthew Quintal, William McCoy, William Brown, Isaac Martin, John Mills and John Williams and their Tahitian companions who were six men, twelve women, as well as a Tahitian baby girl named Sally, daughter of one of the women, who would become a respected person in the community. — settled on Pitcairn Islands and set fire to the Bounty. The wreck is still visible underwater in Bounty Bay, discovered in 1957 by National Geographic explorer Luis Marden. Although the settlers survived by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among them. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills took the lives of most mutineers and Tahitian men. John Adams and Ned Young turned to the scriptures, using the ship's Bible as their guide for a new and peaceful society. They became the first preachers on the island. Young eventually died of an asthmatic infection. The Polynesians also converted to Christianity. They later converted from their original form of Christianity to Seventh-day Adventism, after a successful Adventist mission in the 1890s by missionaries. After the rediscovery of Pitcairn, John Adams was granted amnesty for his part in the mutiny. Ducie Island was rediscovered in 1791 by Royal Navy Captain Edwards aboard HMS Pandora, while searching for the Bounty mutineers. He named it after Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie, also a captain in the Royal Navy. It was not a really interesting place to be living in by the mutineers though. The Pitcairn islanders reported it was not until 27 December 1795 that the first ship since the Bounty was seen from the island, but it did not approach the land and come to the people. A second ship appeared some time in 1801, but made no attempt to communicate with them. A third came sufficiently near to see their house, but did not try to send a boat on shore. Finally, the American trading ship Topaz under Mayhew Folger became the first to visit the island, when the crew spent 10 hours on Pitcairn in February 1808. A report of Folger's discovery was forwarded to the Admiralty, mentioning the mutineers and giving a more precise location of the island—25° 2' S latitude, 130° W longitude.12 However, this was not known to Sir Thomas Staines, who commanded a Royal Navy flotilla of two ships (HMS Briton and HMS Tagus) which found the island at 25° 4' S and 130° 25' W (by meridian observation) on 17 September 1814. Staines sent a party ashore and wrote a detailed report for the Admiralty. Henderson Island was rediscovered on 17 January 1819 by a British Captain James Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules. On 2 March 1819, Captain Henry King, sailing on the Elizabeth, landed to find the king's colours already flying. His crew scratched the name of their ship into a tree, and for some years the island was known as either Elizabeth or Henderson. Oeno Island was discovered on 26 January 1824 by USA Captain George Worth aboard the whaler Oeno. British Colonial Era Pitcairn Island became a British colony in 1838, and was among the first territories to extend voting rights to women. By the mid-1850s, the Pitcairn community was outgrowing the island, because of the 200 people living on it, and its leaders appealed to the British government for assistance. They were offered Norfolk Island, an Australian-held island. and on 3 May 1856, the entire community of 193 people set sail for Norfolk on board the Morayshire, arriving on 8 June after a miserable five-week trip. But after eighteen months on Norfolk, seventeen of the Pitcairners decided to return to their home island; five years later another twenty-seven did as well. And 136 people inhabited it by 1900. In 1902, Henderson, Oeno and Ducie islands were annexed by Britain: Henderson on 1 July, Oeno on 10 July and Ducie on 19 December.16 In 1938, the three islands, along with Pitcairn, were formally incorporated into a single administrative unit called the "Pitcairn Group of Islands". It was established as an Overseas territory by Britain. The population peaked at 233 in 1937, and has since fallen due to emigration, primarily to New Zealand, leaving some fifty people living on Pitcairn. It was a home for immigrants of the Pacific islands. Commonwealth Era Lawyer and Mayoral inspirant, Mike Barrios, upheld the fact that "The Bounty mariners, after doing a mutiny, was technically expelled from being British citizens and also no one of the ships tha found the islands comprising of it, laid claim on it, therfore why are we a British colony". The British House of Commons voted for a for the islanders to have a referendum/plebiscite to either "Be Independent" "Be a Protected State" or "Stay as an Overseas Territory". An overwhelming 14-70-2 vote for protectorate status was voted. Therefore, reforms on the 2010 constitution was made by a joint British-Pitcairn Islander commission was made to amend it. It included a reformed government, more socio-political and political reforms, and a joint British-Islander army to help the island defend itself. On September 27, festivities on the island was prepared for the declaration of Commonwealth status. It was the most festive on the island in it's history and at 12:01 am, Mayor Shawn Christian declared a "semi-independent Commonwelath Pitcairn Island. The Executive-Chief position, formerly Mayor was now held by Mike Barrios. It put up all new reforms and even started to build a hydro-energy plant near the sea. Geography The Pitcairn Islands form the south-eastern-most extension of the geological archipelago of the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia, and consist of four islands: Pitcairn Island, Oeno Island (atoll with five islets, one of which is Sandy Island), Elizabeth Henderson Island and Ducie Island (atoll with four islets). The Pitcairn Islands were formed by a centre of upwelling magma called the Pitcairn hotspot. Elizabeth Henderson is a coral island and Dcie and Oeno are atolls. The mostly inhabited island, Pitcairn, is accessible by boat through Bounty Bay. Regular boat trips from French Polynesia and sometimes, Australia travel during the summer, spring and autumn. Henderson Island, covering about 86% of the territory's total land area and supporting a rich variety of animals in its nearly inaccessible interior, is also capable of supporting a small human population despite its scarce fresh water, but access is difficult, owing to its outer shores being steep limestone cliffs covered by sharp coral. In 1988 this island was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.24 The other islands are at a distance of more than 100 km (62 mi) and are not habitable. (Courtesy of Wikipedia) Climate Pitcairn is located just south of the Tropic of Capricorn and enjoys year-round warm weather. Summer temperatures average 25 to 35 °C (77 to 95 °F) from the months of October through to April, while the winter months range from 17 to 25 °C (63 to 77 °F) from the months of April to November. The average humidity in summer can exceed 95%. The rainy season is from November through to March. Flora and fauna About nine plant species are thought to occur only on Pitcairn. These include tapau, formerly an important timber resource, and the giant nehe fern (Angiopteris chauliodonta). Some, such as red berry (Coprosma rapensis var. Benefica), are perilously close to extinction.The plant species ''Glochidion pitcairnense, ''a folwering plant, is endemic to Pitcairn and Henderson Islands. It is in the threatened position of the plant scale. In terms of fauna, an interesting and rare introduction is the Galápagos giant tortoise. The sole surviving tortoise, Ms. T (also known as Turpen), was one of five which arrived on Pitcairn between 1937 and 1951, brought to the island by Irving Johnson, skipper of the 96-foot (29 m) Brigantine Yankee. Turpen usually resides at Tedside by Western Harbour. A protection order makes it an offence should anyone kill, injure, capture, maim or cause harm or distress to the tortoise. The birds of Pitcairn fall into several groups. These include seabirds, wading birds and a small number of resident land bird species. Of twenty breeding species, Henderson Island has sixteen, including the unique flightless Henderson crake; Oeno hosts twelve; Ducie thirteen and Pitcairn six species. Birds breeding on Pitcairn include the fairy tern,common noddy and red-tailed tropicbird. The Pitcairn reed warbler, known by Pitcairners as a "sparrow", is endemic to Pitcairn Island; formerly common, it was added to the endangered species list in 2008.28 Important bird areas The four islands in the Pitcairn group have been identified by BirdLife International as separate Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Pitcairn Island itself is recognised because it is the only nesting site of the Pitcairn reed warbler. Henderson Island is important for its endemic landbirds as well as its breeding seabirds. Oeno's ornithological significance derives principally from its Murphy's petrel colony. Ducie is important for its colonies of Murphy's, herald and Kermadec petrels, and Christmas shearwaters.29